Continuation of the exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ((And if they had entered upon them from any of its sides, and they had been asked for fitnah, they would have given it, and they would not have delayed in it except a little))

And they would give it. This elongation and the difference between the two is that "ata" means "came" and "ata" means "gave." The interpretation of the two readings, or the combination of the interpretations, indicates that they give what they are asked for and come to it willingly. That is, "ata" means it came to them by their own choice, and "ata" means He gave it to them, even if against their will. But despite that, these are people who give what they are asked for, is it by choice? Therefore, in the second reading, "la atawha" means "la ja'awha" (they would come to it). So these people who make excuses, or who seek permission from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the pretext that their houses are a place of privacy, the matter turned out to be the opposite of what they said. For Allah informed about them, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best what is in their hearts. This is part of Allah the Exalted's knowledge of what is in the hearts. He informed of a future event that had not yet occurred, which would come from a group of people whose hearts we do not know, but Allah knows. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, knows what happens from His servant if what they intend were to happen. Indeed, He, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows even more than that. He said about those who say that if they were returned to the world they would do good: He, the Exalted, said: [Al-An'am: 28] Because He, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows what is in the heart of the person. He said: His saying: It was said that this means "except nothing," because the little and the small may be intended to mean nothing. Yes. And some of them said: That is, except a little, in the literal sense. And this little time is what is between the question and the answer, meaning between their being asked and then answering. Is this span of time long or not? It is very short. It is like the distance between a seller saying "I sold you this thing" and the buyer saying "I accepted." Meaning that they, may Allah protect us from that, do not delay or hesitate at all, but they accept immediately. There is nothing between their acceptance and the asking of the fitnah except the time between the question and the answer. And in reality, this short period is like nothing. Therefore, his saying: was interpreted to mean "except nothing." And what